Mockingbird
by Petrichor7
Summary: An 11 whump fic in which I explain nothing, disregard series 6, add characters out of the blue to move the story along, appear to be a 11/Rory shipper -im not- and never quite wrap it up. All for one torture scene that was better in my head. Read anyway?
1. Prologue

The Doctor was running.

Gunfire exploded around him, blasting holes in the walls of the narrow corridor. He could see Amy ahead of him, baby Melody clasped to her chest, her red hair flying out behind her as she ran. Rory was behind him, he could hear his footsteps, his harsh breathing. The soldiers were gaining on them, but they were almost there: he could hear the TARDIS, he could feel it...

They rounded the last corner and he saw it: the doors of the lift were open and through them the blue painted wood: they were going to make it, he ran harder-

He hadn't realized he had tripped until he hit the ground; his chin smashed into the floor and blood filled his mouth as he bit down on his tongue. Kovarian's soldiers were on him in an instant, seizing his arms, hauling him into a standing position. Rory, who had sprinted past him when he fell had stopped, halfway between the Doctor and the TARDIS.

"Go!" screamed the Doctor struggling with the soldiers. "Go!"

Amy was at the TARDIS, her back pressed against the door, baby Melody in her arms. Rory hesitated.

"Go!" he screamed again "Take care of your baby, just go!"

Amy turned: the door opened at her touch and she ran through. Rory hesitated for a fraction of a second longer, then he turned and followed. The Doctor scrambled desperately for his screwdriver, and before anyone could stop him he had pointed it at the lift and pressed the button.

The doors of the lift slammed closed and a grinding mechanical noise filled the corridor as the lift made it's descent. Then a quieter noise filled the corridor, the soft wheezing sound of dematerialization.


	2. Weapons And Weapons

**Hello All :) This is my first fanfiction, be patient. George Asternar is a rubbish name but in my defense it was the middle of the night. I hope you enjoy. **

George Ashternar had hold of the Doctor's right arm. A tall blond soldier had his left. George did not know the soldier's name, he'd spoken to him only once, when they had been guarding the same corridor. He had said hello, and the blond soldier had said hello, and they had said nothing more because it was forbidden to talk on duty, and George had nothing to say anyways.

Together they frog-marched the Doctor down the corridor, to the room where Madame Kovarian had demanded they return the child once she was re-captured. The Doctor seemed alarmingly at ease for a captive: he made no move to escape, instead chatting amiably to the blond soldier, who said nothing.

"What a time to trip, eh? Ah, well, I'm sure I'll escape from you before long. I wouldn't waste time looking for my friends, they've got all of time and space to hide in, and I've sent them somewhere very secret."

The blond soldier ignored him.

"Aren't you going to ask where?" asked the Doctor, who sounded slightly disappointed. "I'll never tell you of course but that's beside the point. Where are we going anyways?"

He looked expectantly from George to the other soldier, and when neither of them said anything he let out a long sigh.

"You know I'm just trying to make polite conversation. Has the eye-patch lady cut off your tongues or something? Speaking of which, mine is bleeding and I'm going to have a bruise on my chin. Also my knees. Do you have some ice or something? It will keep the swelling down."

They turned and pushed open a door, leading the Doctor through it to where Madame Kovarian stood waiting.

"Hello" said the Doctor, quite cheerfully. Kovarian smiled without humour. "Chain him up" she said to the other soldier, who pushed hard on the Doctor's shoulders, forcing him to his knees.

"Ouch" complained the Doctor as George fastened his wrists in the rusting shackles. When he had finished, George stepped back so that he stood slightly behind Madame Kovarian, noticing that the blond soldier did the same on the other side. They stood still, waiting.

"So" said Madame Kovarian softly. The Doctor ignored her, examining the shackles on his wrists with interest. Kovarian stepped forward, her heels clicking on the polished floor until she was inches away from where the Doctor knelt. He looked up at her, his expression quite blank.

"I need information" she said "about the whereabouts of Melody Pond."

...

"Rory!" yelled Amy, seizing him by the wrist. Melody, in her arms, was crying.

"I have to help the Doctor." he said. "I know you two will be safe, but he hasn't got anyone."

"Rory!"

The time rotor was moving up and down, the air full of the wheezing grinding sound of the TARDIS.

He kissed her on the forehead. "I love you."

Before she could grab him again he threw open the TARDIS door and stepped out.

...

"Why." asked the Doctor.

Kovarian raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand the question, Doctor."

"Why Melody? What do you need her for? You have weapons, you could kill me on your own. In fact-" he rattled the chains binding him- "I'm at your complete and utter mercy right now." He leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Why not just kill me?"

Kovarian smiled again, but offered no explanation. "You're right, Doctor" she said, her voice high and cold. "We do have weapons. In fact we're famous for it. We develop new technologies nearly every day. Our latest causes excruciating pain in the victim before death."

The Doctor glared at her, and George saw for the first time why his name was spoken with hushed tones in the ancient legends of the universe. His eyes had lost their cheerful spark and George could see all nine hundred years of life shining in their depths. When he spoke, his voice was harsh with anger.

"Weapons and weapons and weapons." he said quietly. "You people are obsessed with weapons! Developing weapons, using weapons, making children into weapons-"

"You misunderstood me, Doctor." said Kovarian, her cold voice cutting across his. "I was telling you of a new technology that causes pain. Now say we used that technology, threaded it through this button"- she indicated a round button on the table in front of her - "all the way to, say, the shackles on your wrists."

The Doctor looked at her, then down at his hands with an expression of growing horror.

"I'll ask you one more time." said Kovarian quietly. "Where is Melody Pond?"


	3. Mockingbirds

**This one's short, but better written than the first two. Maybe it's because it's all dialogue, or because I was fully awake when I wrote it. Maybe it's the killer cliffhanger that makes you want to keep reading! (she said hopefully)**

"Listen to me." said the Doctor. "If-"

"I've done enough listening, Doctor." said Kovarian. "I want answers. Where is Melody Pond?"

Her hand hovered over the button. George watched nervously.

"Do you have birds here?" asked the Doctor. Kovarian looked at him curiously. There were no birds on Demons Run, but George knew what they were. He remembered them from his youth. What they had to do with the current situation wasn't clear.

"Ever heard of a mockingbird?" asked the Doctor.

Madame Kovarian ignored him. "Where is Melody Pond?"

The Doctor was talking fast now, perhaps sensing that he didn't have much time to get the words out. "There's a very famous novel on earth about mockingbirds that uses them as a metaphor for innocence. Even before that, they'd always been regarded of the personification of purity. The death of a mockingbird is seen as a loss of innocence. The slaughter of a mockingbird is seen as it's destruction."

"Enough of this talk of birds, Doctor."

"You took a child." The Doctor interrupted. "An innocent, perfect, helpless child and turned it into a weapon for your own selfish purposes."

"And you, Doctor?" asked Madame Kovarian. "Do you know why we did? Why we had to? Do you see what you've done? How many, Doctor. How many dead in your name? Am I the only one in this room to have killed a mockingbird?"

George could tell that her words had hurt the Doctor more than any torture could have. He was shaking his head desperately, his eyes shining with guilt. There was a long silence while the Doctor stared down at his hands. Finally he took a deep shuddering breath and looked up.

Kovarian was watching him unpitingly. "Tell me the whereabouts of Melody Pond."

"No." said the Doctor.

Kovarian hit the button.


	4. Don't Sing

**This is where I throw in a badly written character with all the right answers that moves the story along. And if you thought George was a bad name, here's Charity. **

**(apologies to anyone named Charity. It's not that I dislike the name, it's just that it doesn't fit. Probably because it was pulled out of thin air early in the morning.)**

With nowhere to start, Rory had been wandering corridors peering in windows. Most of the rooms on this floor were unoccupied. Twice he had seen soldiers walking around and had been forced to dive around corners to avoid them. He had just decided that he'd take the next lift he came across and search the next floor when he turned a corner and came face to face with a young girl.

She was wearing the uniform worn by all the soldiers on Demons Run. In her hand was a very large gun. It was pointed at Rory's face.

...

The Doctor screamed. It was the horrible bone-chilling scream of someone in a terrible amount of pain and it took all of George's resolve not the clasp his hands over his ears. The Doctor's body jerked and twisted, his screams echoing around the small room. George stood still, hating himself, unable to tear his eyes away from the horrible scene...

Then it stopped. The Doctor knelt on the floor, his arms still held by the shackles, his head hanging down. He was trembling.

"Are you ready to talk now, Doctor?" asked Madame Kovarian, unfeeling as ever.

Slowly, with great effort, the Doctor raised his head. "Look at you." he said weakly. "Is this what you amount to? Torture!"

"Where is Melody Pond?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Listen to me-"

Madame Kovarian hit the button again.

...

"Hello" said Rory stupidly. The girl was staring at him with a kind of burning intensity.

"It's your baby they've taken" she said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes" said Rory

"It's wrong." said the girl.

"Yes" said Rory again.

She lowered her gun.

"I need to find my friend" said Rory, sensing that the danger had passed. "He's called the Doctor."

"I know where they've taken him." said the girl. "I'll show you."

Rory was confused. "Why?" he asked.

"Because it's wrong." said the girl simply.

She set off down the corridor without checking to see if Rory was following or not. His mind was screaming at him that it could be a trap, a trick, but something in the way she spoke made him trust her. The force with which she'd said "It's wrong." So he followed, jogging to catch up.

"They have your friend on the second floor" she told him without looking at him. "I saw the soldiers bringing him up. But he'll be guarded, if Madame Kovarian's not interrogating him already. We'll need a distraction."

"Okay" said Rory. "What do we do?"

"I don't know." said the girl.

"Well that makes two of us" sighed Rory. The girl smiled. "My name's Charity" she told him.

"I'm Rory."

The doors of the lift pinged open and they got in.

...

The torture went on. The Doctor refused to yield any information, He had committed himself to a vow of silence, at least until Kovarian hit the button, targeting the pain centres in his brain in just the right places. George was shaking and had given up trying to hide it: Kovarian had eyes only for the Doctor and wouldn't have noticed.

There were tears streaming freely down the Doctor's face now: he shook all over, his breath coming in little gasps. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was glued to his forehead with sweat. Kovarian stepped forward.

"I grow weary of our little game, Doctor. Tell me where Melody Pond is."

The Doctor shook his head.

"Very well." said Kovarian.

The Doctor whimpered pitifully as her hand came down on the button one more time.


	5. He Never Would

The lift doors opened. Charity peered out of the elevator. The corridor was empty.

"We're lucky." she told Rory. "They're keeping The Doctor in room 14. Down there." She pointed with her hand. "But you'll never get in."

"We have to try." said Rory determinedly.

Charity hesitated. "He's real, then. The Doctor."

Rory looked at her quizzically. "Of course he's real."

"I...I wasn't sure. I'd only heard the legends."

"What legends?"

"That he's travelled to every corner of the universe, and all the universes beyond. That he's seen things no mortal man can hope to see and survived. That he's torn worlds apart with a flick of his hand. That galaxies tremble before him. That he can fight a thousand wars and win."

Rory shook his head. "Well, I don't know, maybe, but he's done some good stuff too. Mostly good stuff, actually. He never tries to hurt anyone."

Suddenly a horrible scream ripped the air, echoing down the hallway. It was the kind of noise that could only be made by someone who was in an incredible amount of pain, and it made Rory tremble to hear it.

Charity seized his arm as he lunged forwards, intent on nothing but getting to the Doctor, to find and to destroy whatever was hurting him so badly. He spun around, furious.

"That was the Doctor! I have to help him! I have to..."

"You can't just go running in there! They'll kill you!" cried Charity. "Listen!" she added, as Rory continued to struggle. "You need a diversion. Give me two minutes."

Rory nodded weakly. "What's my cue?"

She grinned wryly. "You won't miss it."

Charity pressed a gun into his hand. Then she ran off down the corridor, leaving Rory standing alone.

...

"Where is Melody Pond?"

With a supreme effort, the Doctor raised his head. His eyes shone with pain and fear, his body trembling all over. A tear ran down his cheek.

"Please." he whispered. "Please."

Madame Kovarian hit the button.

...

Another scream. The sound tore through his heart. Rory leaned against the wall, shivering. He screwed his eyes shut, clasping his hands over his ears. Tears formed behind his closed lids, running down his cheeks.

Then, sirens. Rory looked up to see the air full of red light. The lights were blinking on and off, the sirens wailing loudly. Everywhere, doors were opening, soldiers running out. Panicking, Rory fled behind a corner, but no one saw him, they were intent on running. Peering around the wall, he saw Kovarian and a tall blond soldier running out of the room Charity had indicated. He waited until they had left, then ran down the hall to where the door to room 14 was slightly ajar.

...

George had been instructed to stay behind, guarding the prisoner. The blond guard and Madame Kovarian had gone to investigate the source of the chaos outside. The sirens were still screeching, the red lights blinking. He wondered what could possibly have happened to generate such anarchy.

He walked around the room so that his back was to the door. He kept his eyes on the Doctor's half-conscious form. Then, without warning, he felt the barrel of a gun against his head. A low voice spoke by his ear.

"Don't move" said Rory.

...

Rory shifted the gun so that it pressed harder into the soldier's head. He was quivering with adrenaline. "Drop your gun." he demanded, and the soldier did. Rory sent it spinning into the corner with a well-placed kick. "If you make a sound" he said "I'll shoot you."

The soldier said nothing. Rory breathed out slowly. Then his eyes fell on the Doctor.

The Doctor had slumped sideways, suspended only by the shackles at his wrists. His head lolled onto his chest, his eyes half-closed so that only the whites were visible. A single tear slid the length of his face. Rory had loosened the grip on the gun. It would have been easy for the soldier to have fought his way out but he made no move to.

"What have you done?" asked Rory quietly.

"Madame Kovarian was interrogating him." said the soldier, his voice deep and slow. "About the whereabouts of your child." He turned to face Rory, who tightened his fingers on the gun, now aiming it at the soldier's face.

"Don't move." said Rory. "Don't run, don't call for help." he backed up slowly, his gun still trained on the soldier, who still made no move to flee. When he had reached the spot where the Doctor lay, he bent down, taking his eyes off the soldier for the first time.

"Doctor" he whispered, lifting the Doctor's head, smoothing his hair. "Oh, Doctor..."

He turned to the soldier, lifting the gun. "You tortured him." His gaze fell on the button, glowing blue, on the table. "I don't know much about these things, but I'm guessing that you hit this button and it hurts him. I don't see anything else in the room, so the chains must have something to do with it too. Is that right?"

The soldier nodded, silent.

"Do you know what I would like to do?" asked Rory fiercely "I would like to put you in those shackles and hit this button until you looked like that." He gestured to the Doctor. "But I won't. Do you know why?"

The soldier just looked at him.

"The Doctor never would." said Rory simply, his gun still on the soldier. "_The Doctor never would._"

They stood in silence. "Release him" said Rory finally. The soldier picked up a key from the table where the button glowed blue, crossing the room to open the Doctor's shackles. The Doctor collapsed in a heap.

"Stand in the corner." ordered Rory, spying a length of cable on the floor. "I'm going to tie you up."

The soldier obeyed without question. Rory tied his hands tightly behind him, not caring how deeply the cable cut into the man's flesh.

"He told us nothing." said the soldier out of nowhere. Rory looked up. "What?"

"He said nothing." repeated the soldier. "He didn't betray you."

Rory could think of nothing to say to this, and returned to tying knots.

"I don't think." the soldier paused. "I don't think I could have been so brave. I didn't like hurting him. I didn't want to."

"But you did." said Rory harshly. "Because you're a coward. He's ten times the man you are."

He pushed the soldier into the corner of the room with surprising force. Suddenly, the door swung open. Rory spun around, pointing the gun at the intruder, but it was only Charity, her face red from running.

"We haven't much time" she said, as Rory lowered his weapon.

"What do we do?" he asked desperately. He had been so focused on saving the Doctor he'd hadn't managed to come up with a plan. The TARDIS was gone, there were soldiers everywhere, and the only person who could help was unconscious on the floor.

"We need to hide." said Charity. "There's a broken lift at the end of this floor."

" I'm not saying they won't check there." she added grimly. "But they'll look elsewhere first."

Rory nodded. He walked over to where the Doctor lay and lifted him under the armpits. "Get his legs." he said to Charity. "Show me where to go."

...

The corridor seemed eerily silent, and it took a minute for Rory to realize why. The sirens had stopped. Having realized there was no danger, the soldiers would be returning to their posts. How quickly? Did they suspect something was amiss?

The Doctor was surprisingly light, but awkward to carry. When at last they reached the doors of the lift they lay him gently on the floor. "Hurry!" begged Charity as Rory made to force the heavy doors of the lift open, and soon Rory knew why. He could hear footsteps, quiet now but getting louder. With all his strength he pushed the doors wide, and helped Charity drag the Doctor's body into the small space. Once all three of them were inside the doors closed with a bang, and everything became dark.


	6. Broken Lift

**This one's a lot of whump, riddled with akward moments that could easily be mistaken for Rory/11 (eww) but they're not. It ends with the cheesiest line ever because I had no idea where I was going. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it anyways. **

Inside the lift they were eerily cut off from the world. Sounds outside seemed far away, and the only light came from the crack in the door. They sat silently in the half-darkness, not daring to move. Rory could hear muffled voices and footsteps outside the doors. Any second they'd realize their prisoner had escaped. How long would it take them to form a search party? They'd search this floor first- they'd know the Doctor wouldn't be able to get far. How long, then, before they saw the broken lift in the corner?

The Doctor was breathing harder: tiny ragged gasps that broke through the heavy silence. His eyes were open: Rory could see the light from the crack between the doors reflected in them. The Doctor started to sob, making tiny heart-wrenching noises that, if anything, were worse than the screaming.

"Shh." said Rory helplessly, patting his hair. "Shh."

The Doctor sobbed harder, curling into a ball. He felt sicker than he ever had in his life: he was trembling violently and it took everything he had not to throw up all over Rory. He was no stranger to pain, he'd even been tortured before, but never quite so extensively, and never was the memory so fresh in his mind. He tried to stop crying, and failed: he was unsure if he'd every be able to stop. He lay in the near-darkness, his body wracked by sobs, feeling the tears running down his face but unable to lift a hand to wipe them away. Someone touched him, but he didn't react, still weeping bitterly into his arms. He felt Rory wrap his arms around him, holding him. Then he heard something, a soft noise that hung above his desperate sobs, filling the small space of the lift. It was singing.

It was an old song, a song Rory's mother had sung to him when he was a child. The title was long forgotten, but he knew the melody, and the lyrics came to him as he sang, unfolding in front of him from some deep reserve of memory. He held the Doctor's trembling body in his arms and he sang, the way he'd sing to Melody if they ever got out of this mess. They sat for a long time, the only noises in the lift the Doctor's crying and above it, the haunting melody. He sang for what felt like forever, starting over when he hit the last verse, and slowly the Doctor calmed. He was still crying, but silently, his breathing more even, and Rory sang because now that he had started he couldn't bear to stop. When at last he reached the last verse for the second time he let his voice trail away. The melody remained for a second, reverberating in the confines of the lift before disappearing. There was a long silence. The Doctor leaned against Rory, still trembling but otherwise calm.

"You sing very well." said Charity finally.

Rory laughed. "Hardly."

She watched him, her eyes reflecting the light the way the Doctor's had, and he found himself talking, explaining.

"My mum used to sing that to me." he said "When I was a kid."

"It's beautiful." said Charity.

Rory rested his head against the doors of the lift. "I was going to sing it to my daughter."

"Before she got turned into a murder weapon, yeah." said Charity. She laughed, but it didn't reach her eyes which stayed sad.

Rory didn't laugh. It wasn't funny.

Silence fell again between them. Rory wondered vaguely if the Doctor had fallen asleep, but his eyes were open, he was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. He was still crying, silent tears running down his face. Rory looked away. He stared off into the distance, wondering... Where were Melody and Amy now? Where had the Doctor sent them? And then words came to him out of nowhere, words he'd heard only moments ago: "He told us nothing."

"You didn't tell them." he said. The Doctor looked up, startled.

"You didn't tell them." he repeated. "They tortured you, and tortured you, and you didn't tell them."

The Doctor sighed. "Rory.." he began. His voice was weak, barely a whisper. Rory shook his head, feeling tears form in his eyes.

"Thank you." he said.

The Doctor smiled weakly. "Anytime." he said, and Rory knew that he meant it, knew that the timelord would easily take anything for him and Amy and wondered how he'd ever come to deserve such a friend.


	7. Bottom Floor, Gate 16

**I am so sorry.**

**Remember when I told you guys I would update soon? Well turns out that was a big fat lie. And you waited for naught, apparently, because not much happens in this chapter. More than half of it is walking down a corridor. I meant to make it longer, but I hated to keep you guys waiting so long. As for Doctor whump, well, he's only got one line. The rest takes place inside Rory's head. I'll try to hurt him lots next chapter to make up for it. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter. **

**Anyways, again, I'm sorry, and I really hope I won't keep you guys waiting that long again. **

**So without further ado:**

They had no plan, no means of escape. Rory tried desperately to come up with something, anything, any ray of hope that meant that all was not truly lost. Nothing came. Even if soldiers hadn't been swarming all over the base searching for them, they had nowhere to go. There was nothing around the fact that all they could do was sit and wait for Kovarian's army to find them.

Rory hated the feeling of being helpless. It was the feeling of looking at a patient you knew you couldn't possibly save, knowing that no matter what you did, they were going to die. And you lied to them, and smiled at them, and you listened to them when they told you about their kids, or their job, or their vacation to Scotland, even though none of it mattered anymore. You couldn't change anything.

Once, in the hospital where he had worked, there had been a little boy named Taylor. Taylor wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. His parents were divorced, and he had a younger sister named Sara, but you spelled it without the H. He was saving his allowance to buy a remote-controlled fire truck. The lights lit up, and the sirens made noise when you pressed a button. Rory knew all this because Taylor had told him, and despite himself, Rory had listened.

"When I get better." he had told Rory once. "I'm going to buy the firetruck and drive it around my house. There's no carpet, so it will go."

He had paused for a moment, sitting up in the bed in his striped pyjamas, looking out the window to where the leaves were just beginning to turn.

"I'll let Sara have a turn too." he had said finally. "But she has to ask nicely."

Rory leaned against the wall of the lift, remembering Taylor and the way his eyes lit up when he talked about the firetruck he'd never have. He shut his eyes tight so that he wouldn't cry. He'd failed him, just as he'd failed the Doctor, and Amy, and Melody. He was never going to sing to his daughter. He would never teach her to walk, to ride a bike. He was going to die, right here, on a stupid asteroid thousands and thousands of years in the future.

He kept his eyes shut. The shadowy confines of the broken lift and the faces of the people he was letting down were hidden in the dark. He considered keeping them shut when they were captured. It was better not to know what was happening, the way the patients with the problem kids or the visits to Scotland didn't know until the end. The way that Taylor had talked about his sister, and his job raking leaves for his mum, without knowing they'd be that last things he'd ever speak about.

Suddenly, he was furious. He opened his eyes. If he'd learned anything in his travels with the Doctor it was that no matter how bleak the situation looked, there was always a way out. He just had to find it.

He watched his companions for awhile, desperately thinking. The sudden rush of emotion was a sensation he alone had experienced. Charity sat quietly, toying almost lazily with the end of her dark braid. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, in the manner of someone who was focusing their eyes on something only because they couldn't be bothered to do anything else. It was the look of someone who had given up entirely.

The Doctor sat in the other corner, his knees drawn up to his chest. His head was bowed so that Rory couldn't see his face, but he was sure all the same that he was crying. It hurt to watch, so Rory looked away. He rested his head in his hands, thinking...

And then an answer came to him. "Charity." he said cautiously. She looked up at him. "This asteroid. You've got to have a way off it. Don't you have escape pods or something?"

She nodded. "Bottom floor, gate 16. But we'll never get there. It's always guarded, and they'll assume we're trying to make our escape there and be waiting. Besides, they're searching for us everywhere. We couldn't even make it halfway."

He knew it was true, but he didn't care. "We have to try." he told her determinedly. "I'm not sitting here waiting to die. If we get captured, we're just speeding up what was going to happen anyways. What do we have to lose?"

The Doctor had lifted his head. He sat watching Rory speak as though he were a mildly interesting television programme. Rory looked from him to Charity.

"Okay?" he asked tentatively, his voice ringing in the silence.

Charity nodded. "Okay."

Rory turned to the Doctor. "Can you walk?"

The Doctor gave him a smile that was more like a grimace. "Watch me."

Rory stood up, reaching down to pull the Doctor to his feet. He pressed an ear to the door, listening for soldiers. He could hear nothing, but it didn't mean they weren't there.

Charity had been thinking the same thing. "They might just be playing dead." she warned him. "Trying to lure us out."

"Or they could have gone." said Rory hopefully, but he was doubtful. How easy was it to overlook a broken lift?

"There's another lift at the end of the corridor." said Charity behind him. "A real one, a working one. If we make it to the other side of the hall, we can take it down to level one. That's where the escape pods are kept."

Rory nodded distractedly. "I'm opening the doors." he said, his heart hammering painfully hard in his chest. Cautiously, hardly daring to breathe, he slid the doors apart. His heart stopped. His back to the lift, only inches in front of him was one of Kovarian's soldiers, staring hard in the opposite direction. As quietly as he could, still holding his breath, Rory moved behind him, hitting him hard over the head with the butt of the gun.

"Sorry" he whispered, as the guard slumped to the floor. He looked up and down the dimly-lit corridor, but saw no one. So far, their luck was holding. He turned to see Charity and the Doctor stepping tentatively out of the lift. The doors shut with a loud snap and they all jumped.

For a long time they stood, looking uncertainly at each other. Then Rory shook his head. "Come on." he said, leading the way down the hall. The others followed without a word, their footsteps echoing loudly on the metal floor. The silence in the corridor was unnerving him, it made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. With every step his paranoia grew. Was this a trick? A trap? Or had their luck finally changed?

He could see the lift at the end of the corridor. It seemed impossibly far away, the corridor stretching out forever in front of him: dirty metal floors and greying plaster walls. The harsh artificial light from above him cast huge shadows on the wall. It made him nervous. Every shadow, every flicker of light looked like a group of soldiers ready to bear down on them. Their breathing, the rhythmic pounding of their feet on the floor seemed impossibly loud in the silence: how was it that they had not drawn everyone in the base to them already?

The doors of the lift seemed no closer now than they ever had. Every few feet there were doors leading off the corridor, and they would stop and peer inside to make sure they were empty. So far, nearly all of them had been unoccupied. Only twice had Rory caught a glimpse of people moving within the rooms: but he, Charity, and the Doctor had passed by unnoticed. Surely the whole base would be on red alert? He felt more than ever that they were simply being toyed with, lulled into a false sense of security.

He was just looking up, suddenly terrified that there were people watching from above, when Charity flung her arm out to stop him. They had reached the end of the corridor, where it branched off into a T shape, a second corridor intersecting the first. To reach the doors of the lift they would have to cross the second corridor, the top bar of the T. Rory made to move forward again, but Charity pushed him back. "Be quiet." she hissed. Rory froze, listening. For a moment, he heard nothing. Then the sound of footsteps gradually reached his ears, growing louder and louder.

Charity looked at him with wide, frightened eyes. Then she seized the collar of his shirt with one hand, and the Doctor's by the other and pulled them both into a doorway. Rory heard the footsteps getting louder, closer. He didn't dare look, exchanging instead frightened glances with the Doctor and Charity. They held their breath, waiting, praying they would walk past.

Then the footsteps stopped. For a long time he stood still, his eyes darting from Charity to the Doctor, all three of them hardly daring to move. When nothing happened he mustered his courage, and despite himself, he peered around the edge of the doorway.

Two soldiers stood at the end of the corridor, one on either side of the lift. They had their arms crossed, leaning almost nonchalantly against the wall. Their eyes darted up and down the length of the corridor. They each wore a belt upon which generous amounts of weapons had been attached. The lift was only inches away. But guarded, it might as well have been light-years. He turned back to his friends.

"What do we do?" he whispered.

To his surprise, Charity was smiling. "Leave it to me." she said quietly, adjusting the collar of her uniform. Then, before they could stop her, she burst into the corridor.

"Jedd! Bill!" she yelled. "Kovarian wants you guarding the top floor. The prisoner's been sighted there."

The shorter guard had opened his mouth to protest, but the tall one nudged him hard with his elbow.

"If she wants us guarding the top, we'll be there." he said, cutting across whatever the shorter guard had been saying. "Come on."

Charity stood watching as they set off down the corridor. Only when they had disappeared from sight did she motion for Rory and the Doctor to join her.

"Well played" noted Rory, following her into the lift. She smiled, but said nothing, jabbing the 1 button with her thumb. This lift was well lit, unlike the broken one at the other end of the corridor, but equally dingy and decrepit. The light threw the cracks and stains on the metal into greater relief, but no one noticed: all three pairs of eyes were fixed firmly on the descending string of numbers on the tiny screen: 5...4...3...2...

Everyone jumped when it hit one. The second before the doors opened seemed to hang forever, suspended infinitely in the air between them. Then a slow grinding of hydraulics broke the silence as the doors opened.

Standing directly in front of the lift were four soldiers, Jedd and Bill among them. Madame Kovarian stood at the front, her one eye fixed greedily on their faces.

"Oh dear." she said, her quiet voice cutting through the air like a knife. "Aren't we in trouble, now."


	8. Open And Shut

**Hey all. Remember wayyyyy back when I said I hoped I would never keep you waiting really long again? * cowers behind desk * Don't hurt me! I'm sorry! I really am! I have a million excuses, but you don't want to hear that, you're here for the doctorwhump. So here. I squashed two chapters into one because they were getting really short. Hope you enjoy, and thanks to everyone who reviewed/favourited/added to story alert ect ect. **

**And again, I really am sorry. **

Kovarian led the way, followed by The Doctor and one of the soldiers. The soldier kept pace with the Doctor, jamming the gun against his head when he stumbled or moved too slowly. Rory wished he could rush forward to help him, but he too was being forced along at gunpoint. The short soldier that Charity had called Jedd was grinding the barrel gun furiously into the side of his head, and Rory was sure it was going to leave a mark. Behind him, Charity was led along in silence, and the last soldier brought up the rear, his gun trained on the line of prisoners, should they try anything. But they didn't. The procession moved in silence.

Rory struggled to keep back tears. He had known the futility of their quest, known that there was little to no chance of escape, known that they would eventually be captured one way or another. But he hadn't realized until now how much he had believed that they could escape. Hope, Rory decided, was a lie. They had dared to hope that they could make it, and now they were captured. They would be tortured and killed, and someone in the universe was Amy, and Melody, hoping they would come back. But they never would. Taylor had hoped, and he was dead. Hope was stupid and useless and cruel.

He cried now, what good was pretending. Jedd looked at him with disgust and pressed the gun harder into his head as though to intimidate him into stopping. He didn't. He let the tears fall, running silently down his cheeks, and tried to think of Amy, to hold her in his mind as the last thing he'd ever see.

They took the stairs. It was fine with Rory, he'd had enough of lifts. The stairs were less of a mercy to the Doctor, who stumbled on every step. Twice he fell on his hands and knees, and the soldier flanking him pointed his gun at him until he hauled himself to his feet. The Doctor said nothing, never cried out when he fell. With what little strength he had, he'd pull himself back up, and, shoulders set, return to climbing the stairs. Four flights. Rory counted the landings. They were being led back to where they'd come.

They reached the corridor with the broken lift at the end, and Rory was thankful that they had run out of stairs. Every of the Doctor's stumbles had hit him like personal pain. The Doctor had fallen hard at the last step, but he showed no weakness, his shoulders squared, his head held high. His trembling alone betrayed him. Kovarian was talking, but Rory didn't care to listen, setting his eyes on the lift at the end of the hall. It was Taylor's voice he heard now, melodic, earnest.

"_When I get better, I'm going to buy the firetruck and drive it around my house."_

"_When I grow up, I'm going to be a Doctor, like you."_

"_We've captured your machine, Doctor. And Melody Pond."_

Rory's eyes flew open. "What!" Behind him, Charity gasped violently. The Doctor stopped dead, and Rory, who was still moving, crashed into him. Neither of them noticed. "Say that again." breathed Rory, praying he'd misheard. He was shaking now too. Kovarian smiled her hideous smile. "Keep walking." she said, and the guards, jamming their guns against the heads of their captives, lead them into the room where the Doctor had been tortured.

It was the first thing they saw: the hideous shackles and the table with the glowing button melted away, every eye in the room was drawn to the wooden box in the corner. In the silence of the room, one thing became absolutely clear.

They had the TARDIS.

There was panic growing in Rory's chest, but it hesitated. Something was amiss, something had gone wrong...he studied the soldiers faces trying to read the one flaw in their plan...then the Doctor voiced it.

"You can't get in."

So much pride. His voice was weak and shaky, but that simple sentence, the one undeniable fact shone with pride. He said it again, just for the pleasure of it.

"You can't get in."

Rory studied the TARDIS. There were wires hooked up to the base and the woodwork was scuffed – they had evidently tried force – but the box stood as silent and as impenetrable as ever. A smile was growing on the Doctor's pale face. "Oh this is rich!" he said finally, grinning. "Can't get in, can you? And I suppose you want me to open it now, I see, but that's never going to happen. You can't open the door! All that work, and you can't get in! Oh, this is rich!" He started laughing madly, tears running down his face. The soldier that had been holding him, stepped back, unsure how to deal with this. "Stop." said Kovarian, and the Doctor's laughter cut off so abruptly she might have sliced it with a knife. She turned to the taller soldier that Charity had called Bill. "Establish communications." she said, as cold and mechanical as if she had been a computer. Bill, obedient, yanked a panel open on the wall and pulled a wire. The Doctor watched in silence.

Suddenly there was an electrical buzzing noise, like the static you might get on your TV in an electrical storm. The air in front of Rory flickered and hummed, he jumped backward. When had once been thin air hung a translucent screen, and on the screen-

"Amy!" he gasped, starting forward. Amy, Melody still in her arms, was peering into the screen. "Rory!" she cried. Her gaze sidled past him to the Doctor. "Doctor!" she demanded, clutching Melody tighter. "Doctor, what's happening?"

"It's going to be alright." said the Doctor so quietly that Rory had to strain to hear him. "It's going to be alright, so long as you don't open the door. If you open the door, they will come and they will take Melody."

Amy shook her head, her hair flopping in her eyes. "I won't" she promised. "I won't open the door."

Kovarian walked slowly until she was standing squarely in front of the screen. Amy drew backwards, drawing her arms protectively around her child, and Rory knew she had forgotten that she was safe inside the TARDIS and that Kovarian couldn't reach through the screen to her. Rory had too, and he had to resist the urge to lunge forward and pull her away.

"Open the door, Amelia." said Kovarian quietly, smiling her evil smile.

Amy glared at her. "Go to hell." she said venomously, and Rory smiled despite himself at her fiery response.

Kovarian smiled even more broadly at this defiance. "Well then." she said. "We'll just have to do things the hard way, won't we."

She turned to the Doctor and Rory, sizing them up. "Take him first." she commanded, pointing at the Doctor. The soldiers moved at her command, Bill on one side, the light haired soldier who had been holding the Doctor, on the other. They grabbed the Doctor, who struggled feebly in their grip. "No!" screamed Rory, starting forward, but Jedd was strong and held him back. "No!" he screamed again, struggling uselessly against the man restraining him. The Doctor was dragged across the floor, and in that moment Rory saw with infinite clarity where they were taking him and why Kovarian had never for a moment needed to open the doors herself.

He watched them force the Doctor to his knees in front of the gleaming shackles. In the corner of his eye, the button glowed blue on the table. The Doctor was crying and shaking, but silently, and Rory wondered for a moment who was screaming before realizing it was himself. On each side of the Doctor a soldier clamped his wrist into the iron shackles. Rory saw the scream rise and die in the Doctor's throat as the metal hit his skin. He made no move to escape, but sat, tears of pure terror winding their way down his cheeks. Kovarian sent the fair-haired soldier from the room with a flick of her head. Bill stayed beside her, taking his place behind the polished surface of the one table in the room.

The Doctor was talking, urgent and quiet. "Amy." he said. "Amy listen to me. Go away from the screen. Go away from the console. Go to any other room in the TARDIS, but you mustn't stay and watch because it doesn't matter. Do you understand Amy? _It doesn't matter_. Whatever they do, you can't open the door. Don't watch. Just go. Please, Amy, don't watch this."

"That's quite enough of that." said Kovarian. "Doctor, tell your friend to open the door. This is your last chance."

The Doctor was silent. Amy, never one to follow instructions, remained, eyes glued to the screen. Rory was screaming. Melody was crying. Kovarian's hand hovered over the button. Jedd had released Rory, who was no longer struggling to escape, now frozen to the spot with horror. All three soldiers were watching Kovarian, with a sick sort of anticipation.

It took a fraction of a second for Rory's eyes to flick downwards and see the gun being held so loosely in his captor's hand. And in that fraction of a second a last, hopeless, desperate plan unfolded itself in his mind.

Her hand was inches from the button.

He seized the gun and swung it around violently so that it smashed into Jedd's head. In a second he had spun and hit the soldier holding Charity the same way. The two guards crumpled to the ground. It took Charity less than a second to react. She seized the gun from the belt of one of the fallen soldiers, and spun around to point it at Bill, who was firing madly at them, bullets ricocheting off the walls. "No!" yelled Rory, and he dove forwards as her finger tightened on the trigger. He hit her at the last moment, pushing the barrel of the gun down so it aimed for the tall soldier's legs rather than his chest. The bullet hit him in the foot, he dropped his gun with a clatter. Charity ran forward and kicked it away. Rory had spun and was pointing the gun at Kovarian's face.

She looked at him for a long time, and he held her gaze. Slowly, she withdrew her hand from the button. He tightened his finger on the trigger.

"Going to kill me, Rory?" she asked.

He wanted to. Of all the terrible things that would haunt him from that day, it was that one he'd remember the clearest. He stood with the gun weighing heavily in his hand and his baby crying behind him and the Doctor's screams ringing in his ears and wanted to murder her.

But he didn't. Not yet.

He stood with the gun pointed at her, and she smiled, amused. "No." she said softly. "I know you won't. I know you're too much of a coward."

Charity came up beside him. He handed her the gun, not daring to take his eyes of Kovarian. "If she moves," he said. "Shoot her."

Charity was used to taking orders and obeyed without question. Rory turned his back on Kovarian so he wouldn't have to look at her. He crouched down beside the Doctor, who trembled where he knelt. Slowly, as though offering food to a stray animal, he slid a hand inside the Doctor's jacket and closed it around the cold metal of the screwdriver. He opened the shackles with a blast of green light, and pulled the Doctor to his feet. The Doctor was silent. He looked at Rory with wide, frightened eyes.

"Get inside the TARDIS." said Rory gently. He led the timelord by the hand to the wooden box, the way you would lead a child. Having done this, he turned to where Charity held Kovarian at gunpoint. She was still smiling, the sick little smile he hated. He took the gun back.

"You won't do it." she said. "Either of you. The little human boy from Leadworth, and the little traitor girl from L15. You're not murderers."

"You are." said Rory.

She didn't deny it. "Rory Williams. Not brave enough to be a murderer. Not courageous and handsome and dashing. Not like him." She jerked her head to where the Doctor stood, one hand pressed to the TARDIS door. "Is it any wonder she ran from you? Who would look back to a Leadworth nurse after _him_."

He held the gun tighter. Kovarian had turned to Charity."And you, Charity, the small town peasant girl. Do you think your mother will ever forgive you?"

These words meant nothing to Rory, but he saw Charity stiffen beside him. "Do it." she said.

"He won't." said Kovarian, still smiling. "He's a coward."

His finger tightened on the trigger.

"Go to hell." he said.

And then he tossed the gun into a corner of the room and slammed the TARDIS door behind him.


	9. Silent Night

**Hello all. This is the part of a story we call the end. This fic has been a long way from the short torture scene I couldn't keep in my head, and I want to thank everyone who reviewed/favourited/story alerted/ect ect. Virtual hugs to you all. There might be an epilogue coming, but no promises. Thanks so much for reading, and I really hope you enjoyed it. Also if you don't mind telling me just how much you enjoyed it, the review button is right down there... ;) Nice and convenient, right at the bottom of the page... Feel free. **

**So one last time, Thank You. And without further ado:**

There was a long silence after the door slammed shut. Rory was struck with an insane urge to laugh, but somewhere along the way it got lost and he cried instead. Amy, who had been caught between the two broke down and cried as well. The Doctor compromised by leaving the room to throw up.

"Sorry." he said weakly, returning. No one cared. They could hear muffled thumps from outside, meaning the soldiers were once again trying to force the doors open.

"They won't get in." said the Doctor tiredly, and Rory knew he was repeating this more for his own sake than anyone else's. He moved to the console and started flipping levers. Rory turned to Charity, who stood with her back to the doors and her mouth hanging open.

"Bigger inside." said Rory before she could say a word. He took her arm and guided her up the stairs. "Come on."

Charity accepted this without comment. She sat down on the steps and watched the Doctor work. Amy stood opposite him, Melody in her arms, her eyes bright with tears. She was beautiful, thought Rory, even when she was crying, but that was all he had time to think before she crossed the room in two long strides and kissed him.

Breaking apart was like coming out of a very bright light. Rory blinked. They stood for a long time, their faces inches apart, her long hair tickling his face.

"I love you." he said. It was one of those rare occasions that he knew exactly what to say.

A tear fell the length of her cheek. "I love you too."

The Doctor was muttering to himself at the console, pressing buttons and typing furiously. Rory had come to learn that this sort of thing was perfectly normal. You wouldn't have known there was anything wrong with him if he hadn't been so pale. Rory made to go to him, as a source of comfort, but the Doctor had spun around, clapping his hands together with a semblance of his old spirit. "Right! You -" He pointed at Charity before dashing around the console to flick a switch on the other side. "Where am I taking you."

"L15." said Charity immediatly, as if she'd had the answer on her tongue all along. "Third from the sun in the galaxy of Portland."

"Portland?" asked Amy.

"Yes." said the Doctor vaguely, typing in coordinates. "Six planets orbiting the sun, a lot like home. Lots of dust and smoke, but then you lot call it pollution, don't you. I'll take you some time." "Got a date in mind?" he added to Charity, who looked confused.

"Sorry?"

"What, all the legends, and they never once told you _time_ machine?"

Rory watched as Charity's mouth formed a perfect O of understanding. "Right. Well, no, not particularly..."

"Christmas, then." said the Doctor. "I love Christmas." he spun a final dial and the TARDIS landed with a jolt. "Go on, then." said the Doctor, throwing open the door. "Happy Christmas."

Charity stared outside at the little village. Snow was falling softly. She turned back to the Doctor, tears in her eyes. "Thank you -"

The Doctor smiled. "My pleasure." Before she could go, Rory stepped forward.

"Thank you." he said.

"No." said Charity, "Thank you."

She looked out into the snow. Every window was alight, bathing the town in warmth. "Well." she said finally. "Best be off. She turned to the three of them. "I hope I see you again."

"So do I." said the Doctor. She smiled, if a little sadly, then stepped out of the box into the snow, snapping the door shut behind her.

She stood in the snow for a long time after the box had melted out of existence, watching the place where it had been. Then she turned toward the village and she walked home.

ooo

"I blocked the signal." explained the Doctor, heading back up the glass stairs. Rory followed him.

"But.." began Rory, unable to keep himself from voicing his fears, "If they found us before..."

The Doctor sat down heavily at the top of the stairs and put his head in his hands. "Yes, eventually they should be able to break the signal through. And when that happens, yes, they will be able to find us."

He looked suddenly very old and very sad, and Rory felt a sudden rush of pity for him. "But not tonight." he said. The Doctor shook his head. "No." he said quietly. "Not tonight."

Amy had seated herself on the Doctor's other side. They sat like that for a long time, staring into nothing, just feeling the warmth of one another.

"Right." said Rory finally. "We're going to bed. All of us."

He stood up, reaching down to pull first Amy, then the Doctor to their feet.

"Good." said the Doctor distractedly. "Bed." He sighed heavily and headed toward the staircase. "Same rules apply. If I'm screaming in my sleep, just let me be." He spun around, pointing an accusing finger at Rory. "That means you."

Rory ignored him. Longer lives meant more nightmares, the Doctor consistently explained to him, and there was no need to come into his room in the night to comfort him. But Rory always did.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep." said Amy.

"Me either." said the Doctor moodily, climbing the stairs. Rory followed him up, sure that he wouldn't be getting any sleep either. But time travel was hard work, and he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

ooo

He woke up early. Or as early as he could assume, seeing as the Doctor refused to keep clocks in the TARDIS. Time was useless in there anyway, and the timelord always insisted that the tick-tock noise drove him mad. Amy, beside him was still asleep. For a second he hoped, childishly that it had all been a dream, but deep inside him he knew it hadn't. He sat up, and, careful not to wake Amy, swung his legs over the side of the bed.

The nursery where Melody slept attached to their room through a large set of double doors. He eased them open as silently as he could, not wanting to wake his daughter. He needn't have worried. She slept on, her tiny chest rising and falling with each breath. He stood for a long time, just admiring her. Then, as gently as he could, he lifted her in his arms.

He walked to the window, cradling his sleeping daughter. The windows in the TARDIS fascinated him. How they could even exist, he was still unclear on, the Doctor's long winded explanations holding no significance to him, but he enjoyed the fact that they did indeed exist. It gave him a semblance of home to hold onto, despite being able to see nothing outside these particular windows but stars.

He looked out at the stars with his daughter, they way he was sure he'd never be able to again. And then , watching the tiny points of light in the sky twinkle and fade, he sang.

He sang the song twice, and when he had reached the end for the second time, he kissed Melody's forehead and placed her back in the crib. He left the room silently, passing the bed where Amy slept and stepping out into the hallway. The carpet in the corridor muffled his footsteps as he walked toward the Doctor's room.

The door was very heavy, made of some dark alien wood he didn't recognize. With some difficulty, he eased it open and peered in.

The Doctor's bed was empty.

Rory finally found him in the console room. The timelord sat on a chair, his knees hugged to his chest, his chin on his knees. He stared at the console. Rory hesitated, unsure whether or not to speak.

"I know you're there, Rory." said the Doctor suddenly, without looking away. Rory, feeling suddenly guilty, stepped forward. "You weren't in your bed. I was worried you were sleepwalking -"

"That happened once -"

"Into the swimming pool!"

"I woke up!"

"Because you were drowning!"

The Doctor pulled a face and went back to staring at the console. Rory pulled up a chair next to him and sat down.

"Are you okay?" Rory asked automatically.

"No." said the Doctor quietly. Rory, surprised at his honesty, could think of nothing to say.

There was a long silence in where they both struggled to find words.

"I don't deserve you." said Rory finally, feeling tears sting in his eyes.

The Doctor looked at him. "I don't deserve you, either."

Nothing more was said. They sat side by side in the console room, lost in their own thoughts. Rory was the first to break the silence.

"Come on." he said suddenly, standing up. "You're going to bed. You need to rest."

"I'm not tired."

"Yes you are. Come on."

The Doctor obeyed with surprisingly little objection, allowing Rory to lead him to his room. He sat down heavily on the bed.

"Go to sleep." said Rory sternly, turning to leave.

"Rory." called the Doctor before he had reached the door.

"What?"

The Doctor gave him the tiniest of smiles. "You're a good doctor."

Rory returned the smile. "Thank you." he said.

He shut the heavy door behind him as he left. Tomorrow there'd be more danger. But tonight was silent. Tonight there was peace.


End file.
